


There Will Come Soft Rains

by galfridian



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-08
Updated: 2010-03-08
Packaged: 2017-10-07 19:49:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/68588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galfridian/pseuds/galfridian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and Rose happen upon a silent planet on which fable has become reality.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There Will Come Soft Rains

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for challenge 25 at then_theres_us. Thank you, as always, to Jen for beta reading. You're incredible.

_There Will Come Soft Rains_

(and spring herself when she woke at dawn  
would scarcely know that we were gone)

  
Feet shuffle across the TARDIS floor.

"Rose?" The Doctor nudges her with his foot, stirring her from her half-slumber. The TARDIS is whirling across the galaxies, slow and serene, and Rose is enjoying a brief rest. Until now, her morning has consisted of drifting in-and-out of daydreams, lured toward sleep by the lilting melody the Doctor has hummed.

Rose forces her eyes open, angling her head toward the Doctor. "Hm?" He beams at her, in a way only the Doctor can, and proffers his hand.

"Come see."

Rose takes his hand and follows him to the console. The monitor shows that they're orbiting an enormous planet, blanketed entirely in white. In the satellite pictures she's seen of Earth, there are always storms—swirling vortices disturbing an otherwise tranquil globe—but this planet is perfectly still. "It's empty?" Behind her, the Doctor is quiet. Rose faces him. "Doctor?"

He frowns, staring at the monitor. "No, Rose. It's not." He flips a few switches and spins twice as many dials, in a fashion Rose thinks is mostly for show, and the TARDIS moves toward the planet. The Doctor slips into his jacket. "There's civilization down there. A city, or a country, something. But it's quiet. Too quiet."

"Will we land in the city?"

"I set the coordinates to a few kilometers outside. Something was hindering the TARDIS from landing in the city."

Rose glances at the monitor again as they enter the planet's atmosphere. Below them are fields and oceans of snow and ice. In the center, there is a great city, and all around it are clusters of houses. The further the properties are from the city, the more sparse and remote they become until they disappear into the icy seas. She shivers.

-

The Doctor has not exaggerated: this planet is too quiet. The first tentatives steps they take on the snow echo across the plain in which they landed. The wind does not stir. No birds flit across the sky, no animals skid across the snow. Rose is hyperaware of her own breathing. She shares a look with the Doctor, hesitation that turns to a grin, and they continue onward.

They become accustomed to the sound of their steps, however, and the silence envelopes them. Rose closes the distance between herself and the Doctor, listening to the sound of his breathing. As she is about to comment on the terrible quiet, there is a sound like thunder. Above them, a small shuttle breaks the atmosphere. They watch as it circles the city twice before landing mere meters from where they stand.

Several long moments pass. Rose's ears ring as the planet falls silent once more. She registers that the Doctor's hand holds her wrist.

The shuttle opens. A man exits. He's tall, taller than the Doctor, with red-blond hair. He seems to be wearing ceremonial dress, including a sword. He extends his hands, as if to show he means no ill, and smiles broadly. He meets the Doctor and Rose midway between their two positions. Standing closer to him, Rose can see that he has bright green eyes and a smattering of freckles. His smile is charming.

The Doctor, of course, is instantly suspicious.

"Hello," the man nods politely at them. "I am Eamon of Cyprian." He extends a hand to Rose.

"Rose," she replies, placing her hand in his. "Of Earth." He places a gentle kiss upon her hand, then turns his eyes to the Doctor.

"The Doctor." He offers neither the name of his home nor his hand to shake.

Eamon seems to take this in stride. "If I may be so bold, may I inquire as to what brings you to Beaudon?"

"Traveling," is the Doctor's simple reply.

"Well, this planet is hardly one for sightseeing! Its inhabitants are, shall we say, in Morpheus' keep."

At this, the pieces seem to come together for the Doctor. He emits a single "_oh!_" of delight and grins that way he does when he knows something she doesn't. Rose quirks an eyebrow, but the Doctor goes on grinning. "Brilliant, just brilliant!"

"Well?" Rose prompts.

"We," the Doctor throws one arm around her shoulders and one arm around Eamon's, "have stumbled upon the Renaissance!" At his companion's deliberately blank stare, he adds, "After Earth's first intergalactic war, humanity thought back to its roots. There were too many people for Earth, after all that exploration and expansion, so you settled twelve similar planets. Then what happened, Eamon?"

"We fell in love with the past. Hundreds of subcultures throughout the twelve colonies took their cues from different periods in history."

"Philosophy was reborn! Art! It was fantastic, Rose!" The Doctor urges them toward Eamon's shuttle. "Know what else was reborn?" Rose shakes her head. "Monarchy! Royalty! The knighthood! This planet has—had? has?—a royal family."

"Has." Eamon shifts his sword from one side to another. "They haven't died. They're sleeping."

"Sleeping?"

"Rose, have you heard the saying, 'every legend has some truth'? The idea that stories have a root?"

"Yeah."

"Well, at some point, the story becomes truth again. Eamon! You have some means of reaching the center of the city, I presume?"

"Yes. I have a small land speeder. It fits four."

The Doctor beams. "Good!"

-

They board the speeder and fly toward the city. First the TARDIS then Eamon's shuttle disappear on the horizon. She frowns, sorry to leave the TARDIS so far behind. "Why couldn't we land in the city, Eamon?"

"It's protected."

"By who?"

"No one. Think of it like an enchantment. The entire population of this planet lives in this one settlement. On the other side of Beaudon, there's another city, but it was abandoned centuries ago. This city protects its people."

"An enchantment?" Rose looks to the Doctor, who's still grinning.

"Ask him. I think he has a story to tell."

"Eamon?"

Eamon stares pointedly ahead. It seems for a moment that he won't speak. He thrusts the speeder into a higher gear and clears his throat. "After the war, there was relative peace between the twelve worlds. There were little quarrels, of course, but nothing significant. As the Doctor guessed, a pair of monarchies were established on Beaudon. The families claimed to be descendants of Earth royalty."

"Were they?"

"No one knew. No one cared. Honoring ancient Earth culture was the primary concern of the time. After a century or two, the lines were royal regardless. By that time, unfortunately, tension began to rise between the colonies. With regard to Beaudon, the unsettled land became an issue."

At this time, they near the gate to the city. As the speeder slows to a stop, the Doctor jumps out. Once it's resting at the gate, he offers Rose his hand. She takes it and climbs out of the speeder. The Doctor and Rose take in the gate. They're tall and stunning.

"Um." Rose kicks an iron bar tentatively. Eamon comes to stand between them. "Eamon? Ideas?" Rose isn't sure what she's expecting. By Eamon's attire, she thinks maybe something epic and heroic, but he simply reaches forward and touches the gate. It appears to know him, swinging open at his touch.

-

Navigating the empty city is simple, although knowing families lie unmoving in the houses they pass gives rose goose pimples. On occasion, they glimpse a man or woman through a window. They look peaceful, but they're so still Rose can scarcely believe they're only asleep. The city somehow seems quieter than the wilderness; the only sound is the humming of the speeder's engine.

The gravity of the situation settles upon the Doctor at last. He becomes tense as they move further toward the center of the city. "Finish your story," he urges Eamon.

"With the other colonies' eyes on the open land, the two families made plans to merge. This city's queen was expecting a daughter; the other city's queen was expecting a son. News of the children and their eventual union spread across the colonies. Another colony, Courholm, sent the Beaudon a gift: a spinning wheel which showed the dreams of the spinner. It was supposed to create beautiful tapestries."

Now at last, Rose realizes the significance of the sleeping planet. "_No_," she breathes.

"There was a prophetess. She saw the wheel's arrival in a vision, she saw the city asleep. She saw the princess fall to the floor. She warned that the spinning wheel was no gift, that it would ensnare the princess. The wheel was hidden, but of course the princess was curious.

"One day, when she was sixteen, she and a friend found its hiding place. True to the prophetess' word, the princess sat at the wheel and spun the thread." They come to the center of the city. "Within minutes, the princess grew drowsy. She lay on the floor and fell asleep. Try as they might, no one could wake her. Those near her soon fell asleep. It began to snow."

-

There are stories told across galaxies. Some begin as fact and evolve into fiction; others begin as fiction and evolve into fact. A man is transformed by love, a girl rises from cinders to become a queen, a wolf cries in the black dark of night.

This is the story of a sleeping beauty:

Once upon a time, there was a princess. Her home was a peaceful planet with only two cities. The land between the two cities was vast and untamed. Others desired the land, but the kings and queens of the two cities were unwilling to part with it. The families decided to unite. The princess would marry a prince.

Their plan was to be thwarted by another planet. This planet gave the kings and queens a charmed spinning wheel. It was said to show the spinner's fantasies. A prophetess saw peril, however, and warned the kings and queens. The wheel was hidden.

The prince and princess grew. The two became friends. Unlike most pairs in arranged unions, the princess and her prince looked forward to building a greater city than either of their two homes.

The two heard rumors of a spinning wheel. One day, they slipped away from the watchful eyes of their courts and found the wheel. The princess began to spin, but swiftly fell asleep. The prince tried to wake her, but to no avail. When the king and queen arrived, the prince returned to his city and his parents. That evening, the princess' family and attendants fell asleep.

On the other side of the world, the prince's city fled from the curse. Within days, the princess' city lay sleeping; after a week, the planet was silent.

-

The castle is breathtaking. It is so exquisitely furnished that Rose suspects the royal family in Britain would feel envious.

Rose and the Doctor follow Eamon from one room to the next, from one floor to the next. After some time, they come to an open door.

Inside the room, there is a girl. She is suspended above her bed. She is the most beautiful part of the castle.

Behind her, there is a spinning wheel.

"She was supposed to marry my great-grandfather." Eamon steps timidly toward the princess. "He fled with his city. He hoped to return with a way to rescue her. For months, however, his parents kept a strict eye on him. When he was finally able to return, the city would not allow him in. He realized that he had failed her. He eventually married, but the guilt remained with him the rest of his life. But he believed that one of his descendants would do what he couldn't."

"No one came." Eamon nods sorrowfully at the Doctor's guess.

"My grandfather thought he was wrong. It wasn't until he was an old man that he began to believe his father. By then, my father had married my mother. He started telling me the story when I was little."

"You came for her. You came to wake her." Rose smiles.

"If I can. I have to work out how." He reaches out to touch the girl's hand. "She's waited so long." He moves to brush a strand of hair from her forehead.

As he does, Rose's eyes fall on the spinning wheel. It is certainly remarkable. She finds herself involuntarily moving toward it. The spindle is golden and catches the light of the afternoon sun. She runs her fingertips from its base toward its point. Before she reaches it, however, the Doctor pulls her away gently. "No, Rose," he whispers into her ear.

She slips her hand into the Doctor's as Eamon comes and sits as the wheel.

-

An intense silence is broken by the sound of the princess exhaling a deep breath. Eamon stands and crosses to her. He cradles her in his arms and pulls her toward him. She wakes in his arms. There is familiarity in his face. The princess weeps with relief.

Rose holds a tapestry to her chest. It displays an image of Eamon's dream: spring on Beaudon.

-

Sometime later, the Doctor and Rose emerge from the castle. The weather has warmed considerably.

By the time they reach the TARDIS, a soft rain has begun to fall.


End file.
